But the turning point in the 22-year-old’s career came in 2013 when he was offered a spot in England’s centralised training squad.

“It sounds corny but that was a dream for me,” says Roper.

“For aspiring people who want to be a professional hockey player but aren’t in the centralised squad, it’s really, really tough.

“If you aren’t in the squad then you aren’t funded so have to work and train around your job.

“Those of us in the centralised programme are all Lottery-funded athletes so we get to train five days a week together as a 30-man squad.

“We train full-time in Bisham Abbey doing pitch sessions, gym sessions and we have loads of different support like physiotherapy, a psychologist, a nutritionist. So it gives us the tools to be the best we can be.

“The important thing about being selected is it gives me the opportunity to be picked for the Rio 2016 Olympics .

“It’s that feeling that you are on the right path to achieving what you want to do.”

For a sport conducted largely away from the gaze of the national media, the financial realities of committing to a future in hockey are something never far from an aspiring player’s thoughts.

While Roper now has the security of being in England’s centralised squad, he only last year completed a business management degree at Sheffield Hallam university to gain the skills needed to sustain himself outside the sport if need be.

“I was still at university when I got offered my place on the programme,” says the Chester-born athlete.

“But I was looking for jobs and graduated with a 2:1 so I was happy with that for something to fall back on.

“A hell of a lot of time at university was taken up by hockey though.

“We trained on a National Performance Centre programme which means we had a small amount of funding to train with coaches in our area two or three times a week.

“We had gym programmes, physiotherapy support and lifestyle support to balance the hockey and academic side.

“It was quite full on trying to complete a degree and get to where you want to go with the hockey, but my aim was always to get into the centralised programme so I did whatever I had to do to make it.”

It was through a steady flow of personal milestones on the pitch that he was able to realise that aim.

The son of a former international hockey umpire father and North of England player mother, Roper says he first realised the sport was where his future lay when he was selected for the invitational UK Lions squad aged 13.

National age group honours soon followed with a silver medal the highlight when representing Great Britain Under-21s at the Australian Youth Olympic Festival last year.

“That was a pretty incredible experience,” he says.

“We were in Australia for three weeks and it was amazing. It was such a professional set-up and we were in the athlete’s village so there were always athletes buzzing around and you got a feeling that it was something that will only happen a couple of times in your life.

“Australia were 3-0 up at half-time in the final but we got it back to lead 4-3 with two minutes to go before losing on golden goal.

“Coming away with a silver medal but losing like that was pretty devastating. But it was definitely the highlight of my youth career.”

Since graduating from university where, as captain, he guided Sheffield Hallam to the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) title and promotion to the England Hockey League Premier Division, Roper has joined Wimbledon and moved to Maidenhead to be closer to England’s centralised squad.

A first senior England cap arrived against Belgium last summer – “my proudest moment to date” – but, despite a flurry of international goals this year, he missed out World Cup selection, instead flying to Holland as a travelling reserve in case of injury.

“I’d been thinking about making the World Cup squad for the past year and playing in Holland would have been incredible,” he says.

“Unfortunately I just missed the cut. I was in pretty good form recently, but missed a couple of matches due to illness in the warm-up preparation.

“As disappointing as that was I am aware that I am still young and it is going to be hard to break through. But I can still do it.”

In Roper’s absence England missed out on a medal, finishing fourth for the second successive World Cup after defeat against Argentina in the bronze medal match.

Every match during the tournament was shown live on Sky Sports and while attention will increase for next month’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow – which Roper is preparing for despite admitting it is “not likely” he will be picked – the England forward says he would love hockey to have a bigger profile in this country.

“I think it’s something that a lot of people in hockey are quite passionate about,” he says.

“You see how big the football World Cup is. Obviously the hockey World Cup is never going to be as big as that but it is still frustrating that England have been so successful and there’s still a lack of publicity around.

“It’s definitely growing, but it’s not as big as I think it should be.”